Fixated

mor-ti-fied. that's how i felt yesterday. first i was thrilled, then i was bold, then i was respectful. but all those good feelings culminated ultimately in a particularly strong delayed reaction: mortification.the only thing greater than my humiliation was my admiration of her.what?who am i talking about?lynn yaeger.

after an unpleasant dental appt., i stopped by for a cup of soup, to go, and as i headed to the back of the order line, who did i pass but mme. yaeger. without hesitation i touched her arm and told her that i had once told myself that if i ever saw her, i would tell her that i thought she was wonderful. so now i was. telling her.people who are as genuinely and imaginatively curated as she should know that there are people who value their style.she was very sweet about it. and then i considerately left her alone after that - not wanting to spook her with my enthusiasm, and so i didn't get to fully express how grand she is, in all her natty netting, bangs, bob and all.well, a while later i found myself on another errand, and in front of a mirror, in a dressing room. yikes!i recently bought multiples of my favorite lipstick so that i would have a tube in any bag i happened to be carrying. and indeed i had one with me right then. but had i bothered to swipe some on? no. was my hair sticking out of a scarf in the goofiest manner possible? indeed it was. on a hasty trip to the dentist, had i dressed carelessly? for sure.if i could pick anyone in the world to talk to about fashion, mme. yaeger would be very high on the list (it would be my personal preference to talk fashion with someone who opines rather than designs). i think today i may have made it onto one of her lists - friendly fans who are disappointingly drab.mortified.incidentally, i did buy the item i was trying on, and soon, after my aggravation with myself fades (at least pertaining to this incident), and i happily enjoy the new garment, i will always associate it with getting to see, briefly but in person, the wonderful lynn yaeger.(and on a positive note, now i've bought one new item and cleared out 2 - the navy sweater i was wearing today *shudder* and it's evil grey twin.)long post, right? i'm not done.so my exposure to lynn sort of commandeered today's post, but i'm going to steer it back to the one i originally intended to write today. the top that i bought was purchased as a gift for an accessory that i recently ordered. i thought the pin would like this top, and vice versa. i can blame my shabby appearance yesterday on the fact that i did not yet have these two new items. you see, once i fixate on something new, most everything else i own fades into the background and strikes me as second rate. i blame this (temporary) lack of imagination for the choices i made when getting dressed without the desired pieces (heaven help me, the pin won't likely arrive before friday, if then). nothing else in my closet appealed to me.does this happen to anyone else?

when you are lusting after, or simply wanting a particular new item, does it have an adverse effect on how you view your staid collection?

12 comments:

martha
said...

Wow, yes, very long for you today. And what a good reason for it. Lynn is wonderful. I love reading her work in the Village Voice. I don't know how but I missed that NYTimes article, so thank you for the link. Very interesting to read about the ... conception of her style. And how did she look in person? As you expected?

As to the question - not so much prior to purchase, but once I have something new, yes, that is all I want to wear.

I second that. It struck me the other day that everything I tend to out on these days were purchased within the last 18 months. I tried to put on a blouse I bought 3 years ago but just "didn't feel like it" even though I still love and refuse to put into storage. On the other hand, my jeans and cardigans are exceptions to this rule.

Oh that's nice. I love a backstory to a purchase, and I think this qualifies, or at least there is a connection.For me, new is good, old is bad. Terrible philosophy, but it seems deeply entrenched in me.

yes, thank you martha for mentioning the 'village voice'. i should have put in a link to her work. she is found on their site, under "nyclife".

fashionaddict - yes, this is what happens to me. hard to decide if i love something but won't wear it, do i still keep it? i am crossing fingers, toes and elbows hoping that the summer things i set aside will still appeal in 5 months.

anonymous - i do think i'm forcing the backstory a bit, since i wasn't in the midst of buying the top when i saw her. ;) maybe i should have saved the soup? lol but i will associate the top with a happy coincidence.

allure - uh oh, do you mean all the fantasy outfits your put together around the piece don't play out quite right? mental dress up is so much easier than ... "me" dress up.

^^what are you doing to me? did i not write directly above you that i would not spend a not unsubstantial amount of money pursuing additional colors?! now of course i will have to go check out this other NARS red you mentioned. your sister is just one degree of separation from my lovely captiva. lucky.the day i make anyone lol is a good day. that it was you is an added bonus. i feel accomplished. i'm going to take a nap as a reward.

how exciting! i can't believe you got to meet her. so lucky! and don't worry, i'm sure your true personal style, the part that goes beyond clothes, shone through to lynn.

but...where WERE you? i thought you lived in the northwest. was lynn in your town or were you in nyc or WHAT?!

to answer your question of the day, i do have that problem where i become fixated (that's EXACTLY the right word for it) on something new and it overshadows the rest of my wardrobe. i've been more aware of in these days and am curbing my shopping to give myself time to appreciate what i already have.

dreamecho - the northwest? no, though i think i would like their weather. i myself am very pro-cloudy grey skies.she, and i, were in nyc.sadly, i cannot make peace with what i was wearing that day. lol, so dramatic. so the sweaters are gone. i thought i had vigilantly purged my closet of "lazywear" but apparently a few things escaped my notice.

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